Coastal Athletic Association

The Coastal Athletic Association (CAA), known before July 20, 2023 as the Colonial Athletic Association,[1] is a NCAA conference that plays in NCAA Division I. The conference is headquartered in Richmond, Virginia and features universities and colleges from the Eastern United States.

The CAA was founded in 1979 when the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) split its basketball league into several conferences. It was first known as the ECAC South Basketball League, and became the Colonial Athletic Association in 1985 when it added other sports. The first word of the conference name was changed to "Coastal" in 2023.

The CAA plays 23 sports in all—10 for men and 13 for women. Its (American) football league is a separate conference marketed as CAA Football (in full, the Coastal Athletic Association Football Conference).

Members

These colleges and universities are "full members" of the CAA, meaning that they play almost all of the sports that the CAA sponsors.

SchoolLocationFoundedTypeNicknameJoined
CAA
Campbell UniversityBuies Creek, North Carolina1887PrivateFighting Camels2023
College of Charleston
(Charleston)		Charleston, South Carolina1770PublicCougars2013
University of Delaware[lower-alpha 1]Newark, Delaware1743Public/private hybrid[lower-alpha 2]Fightin' Blue Hens2001
Drexel UniversityPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania1891PrivateDragons2001
Elon UniversityElon, North Carolina1889PrivatePhoenix2014
Hampton UniversityHampton, Virginia1868Private
(HBCU)[lower-alpha 3]		Pirates2021
Hofstra UniversityHempstead, New York1935PrivatePride2001
Monmouth UniversityWest Long Branch, New Jersey1933PrivateHawks2022
North Carolina A&T State UniversityGreensboro, North Carolina1891Public
(HBCU)[lower-alpha 3]		Aggies2022[lower-alpha 4]
Northeastern UniversityBoston, Massachusetts1898PrivateHuskies2005
Stony Brook UniversityStony Brook, New York1957PublicSeawolves2022[lower-alpha 5]
Towson UniversityTowson, Maryland1866PublicTigers1979, 2001[lower-alpha 6]
University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW)Wilmington, North Carolina1947PublicSeahawks1984
The College of William & MaryWilliamsburg, Virginia1693PublicTribe1979
  1. Delaware will leave the CAA and CAA Football for Conference USA in 2025.
  2. Delaware is chartered as a "privately governed, state-assisted" institution.
  3. "Historically black colleges and universities", defined in US federal law as higher education institutions that were both (1) created to educate African Americans and (2) founded before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 became law.
  4. North Carolina A&T joined CAA Football in 2023.
  5. Stony Brook joined CAA Football in 2013.
  6. Towson left the conference in 1981 and came back in 2001.

CAA Football

The CAA has run a separate football conference, branded as CAA Football, since the 2007 season. CAA Football plays in Division I FCS (Football Championship Subdivision), the lower of two levels of NCAA Division I football. Although the multi-sports CAA dates only to 1979, the football conference officially traces its history to 1947, and its history can be traced further back to the late 1930s.

In 1938, five schools in New England formed the New England Conference. When one of the schools left in 1945, the other schools joined with two other New England schools to form the Yankee Conference, which began play in 1947. CAA Football does not include the New England Conference in its own history, but instead considers the Yankee Conference to be its earliest ancestor.[2] In 1975, the Yankee Conference dropped all sports other than football, and over time many schools outside of New England joined the league. Due to changes in NCAA rules in 1997, the Yankee Conference merged into the Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10). After the CAA announced plans to start a football league in 2007, all of the A-10 football teams decided to join the CAA for that sport, and the CAA created the separate conference of CAA Football.

Of the members of the multi-sports CAA, Campbell, Delaware, Elon, Hampton, Monmouth, North Carolina A&T, Stony Brook, Towson, and William & Mary have football teams. The other schools that play in CAA Football are:

SchoolLocationFoundedTypeNicknameJoinedMain Conference
University at AlbanyAlbany, New York1844PublicGreat Danes2013America East
University of MaineOrono, Maine1865PublicBlack Bears2007America East
University of New HampshireDurham, New Hampshire1866PublicWildcats2007America East
University of Rhode IslandKingston, Rhode Island1892PublicRams2007Atlantic 10
University of RichmondRichmond, Virginia1830PrivateSpiders2007Atlantic 10
Villanova UniversityVillanova, Pennsylvania1842PrivateWildcats2007Big East

Other associate members

The CAA has several other associate members, each of which plays one sport in the conference. In addition to these, CAA Football member Villanova became a single-sport member of the multi-sports CAA in 2015.

SchoolLocationFoundedTypeNicknameJoinedCAA SportMain Conference
Eastern Michigan UniversityYpsilanti, Michigan1849PublicEagles2012Women's rowingMAC
Fairfield UniversityFairfield, Connecticut1942PrivateStags2014Men's lacrosseMAAC
University of Massachusetts AmherstAmherst, Massachusetts1863PublicMinutemen2009Men's lacrosseAtlantic 10
University of Connecticut (UConn)Storrs, Connecticut1881PublicHuskies2019Women's rowingBig East
Villanova UniversityVillanova, Pennsylvania1842PrivateWildcats2015Women's rowingBig East

References
  1. "CAA Changes Official Conference Name To Coastal Athletic Association" (Press release). Coastal Athletic Association. July 20, 2023. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
  2. "The CAA & CAA Football". Coastal Athletic Association. Retrieved July 21, 2023. The conference celebrated 75 years in 2022, with its roots tracing back to the Yankee Conference (1947-1996) and the Atlantic 10 Football Conference (1997-2006) before CAA Football begin (sic) in 2007.
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